A place for communication to everyone belonging to 1H of Radin Mas Primary School, 2013

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Misconceptions of fewer than, more than

Misconception:
More than, fewer than, less than
In problem sums, students have these misconceptions of knowing which is more, which is less. The crux to handling this is to ensure these terms have a partner to belong to. Normally, it is the nearest term closest to these words.

E.g. John sold 109 chickens on Monday. He sold 28 more chickens on Tuesday than on Monday.
The "more" term in this sentence is placed closer to Tuesday. In this case, the "more than" belongs to Tuesday.
Using logic, therefore, Tuesday is more, and hence Monday is lesser.
To help children, an arrow can be drawn from the word "more" to Tuesday.

Children have more difficulties with the term fewer and lesser than.Another e.g. Jane sold 500 cakes on Friday. She sold 109 fewer cakes on Saturday than on Friday.
The "fewer" term in this sentence is placed closer to Saturday. In the case, the "fewer than" belongs to Saturday.
Using the same logic, therefore, Friday is more than Saturday.
To help children, an arrow can be drawn from the word "fewer" to Saturday.

Normally, children who are better read would not be facing these problems, and most of them can understand these easily. These tips will be useful for those who are still facing difficulties in identifying the "more than" and "fewer than" terms.